iPhone Home Button Replacement

The home button stopped working on my iPhone. It was on the jailbroken 3.1.2 OS. In a rash move, I flashed the firmware in hopes that the button will be fixed; this killed any opportunity to circumvent the home button as cydia provides an app for such purposes.

In the DIY spirit, I decided to replace the button myself. Removing the digitizer from the frame was not an easy task to figure out, but very necessary to replace the home button. I used a blow dryer to weaken the adhesive that joins the digitizer and the lining plastic frame. Then I used a razor-like implement to pry the two faces apart- very carefully. One of the downsides is that a rubber seal that covers the joint between the two parts needs to be removed and it appears that this will make the device less waterproof.

I will now be selling my iPhone – or keeping it for projects only. My Nokia 3124, which was purchased at Walmart (my only walmart trip in about 10 years) for $10 has not had a single dropped call. The iphone seemed to drop half of all my calls; this may be an exaggeration.

Otherwise, I have a moral objection against using Apple products: it seems Apple is insistent that I use only applications that they approve. This is a bit like Sony determining my cable line-up. I’m reading that OS 4.0 will be even stricter in accepting apps into the store and, honestly, this makes me a bit angry. Here’s one of the few assessments that ARS makes about new restrictions on development tools for iPhone apps.